...Ameer 2 SLO#2: 1 Lobbyist and Interest Groups in Texas Lobbying is widely carried out in the state government of Texas these days. Lobbyists are a group of individuals that make efforts to influence the elected government legislators to divert decisions in their favor. Interest groups are specialized group that support a certain legislation and they succeed in their goal with the help of lobbyist. After carefully analyzing both the articles I believe that there should definitely be more strict observance of the actions of interest groups and the activities of lobbyists as a single association with immense amount of wealth can alter the decision in their favor contradicting the norms and values of the society. eg Texas State Rifle Association (TSRA) is an old running organization with thousands of members and millions in funds, can easily turn the tables in their desired way by buying off legislators. (Legislation 1) This can result in a gun law being passed that can cause a sense of unsafety in the region of Texas giving air and free space to terrorism. On the other hand, interest groups and lobbying may play a positive role as it unites a community with same voice under one flag and can easily provide access to elected leaders with professional services which otherwise would have been nearly impossible. But this can still prove more beneficial for...
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...Evaluate the role of interest groups in Texas. Chapter 7 discussed various forms of participation in the political process. Being an active member of an interest group is yet another form of political participation and a way to exert influence on the government. Chapter 7 also demonstrated that voter participation in Texas is relatively low. This lack of citizen involvement in elections leads to a corresponding increase in the importance and influence of interest groups in Texas politics. Indeed, it is frequently not the individual, or even the more broadly defined “public opinion,” that influences government, but rather these interest groups that have the ear of public officials. However, interest groups are not necessarily “others” but are often “us” as we act in concert with like-minded or similarly interested citizens. An interest group is an organization of individuals sharing common goals that tries to influence governmental decisions. This term is often used interchangeably with the term “lobby group,” although lobbying is a specific activity or technique (discussed later) whereby interest groups attempt to influence legislation. Sometimes the term political action committee (PAC) is also used to refer to interest groups. PACs are organizations that collect and distribute money to candidates and, as such, are a more specialized kind of interest group. Often, broad-based interest groups have PACs associated with them. Interest groups play an important role in a democratic...
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...4a. Discuss how visible the public policy process is to the people of Texas. Explain whether or not you believe the people of Texas should have a strong say in the development of public policy. The public policy process should be clear and visible, giving people access to the policy making process. This process is part of a string of policies such as rule making, implementation and adjudication, which provide policies for our Texas bureaucracy. Texas has a very large population. It makes their involvement in public policies very difficult as oppose to the executive, the legislature or even interest groups. It is difficult for people (individuals or disorganized groups) to suggest and foster new policies or programs on the debate table. As...
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...The stakeholder’s holders in this policy include residents of Texas, physicians, APRNs, insurance companies, state and federal health agencies, professional organization such as ANA (American Nurses Association) (2017), and the coalition for APRNs in Texas and Texas Nurse Practitioner’s Association. First of all, APRN has to bring the practice problem that her face to the steering committee of American Nurses Association Texas Region Committee. APRN can involve in this process of committee by requesting to testify and committee communicates their decision of testimony through conducting the hearing. This committee usually consists of fifteen ANA members who will deeply delve into the problem and will get back within a three month period. If...
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...1 Marks: 2 The party in government is made up of ___________ and has direct impact on governmental policy; it is largely independent of ___________________. Choose one answer. | a. the party organization/officeholders | | | b. officeholders/the party organization | | | c. voters/politicians | | | d. bureaucrats/the president | | | e. the electoral college/state legislators | | Question2 Marks: 2 A new order of demonstrated political loyalties, such as seen in Texas and the South from Reconstruction until the middle 20th century with the movement from a Democratic majority identification to a development of parity between the Democratic and then in the latter half of the 20thcentury the shift to Republican party majority identification is called Choose one answer. | a. dealignment. | | | b. alignment. | | | c. realignment. | | | d. party shift. | | | e. political epoch. | | Question3 Marks: 2 The right to vote was not extended to women in the United States until Choose one answer. | a. the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. | | | b. the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. | | | c. the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. | | | d. the adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. | | | e. an executive order that was issued and signed by President John F. Kennedy just weeks before his assassination in November of 1963. | | Question4 ...
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...of an important component of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the expansion of Medicaid. The expansion of Medicaid ensures health care coverage for children, poor people, disabled people and some elderly citizens. Unfortunately, 20 states have decided to opt out of this policy leaving access to health care unavailable to millions of needy people. It remains unclear why so many governors and congressmen dislike the expansion of Medicaid and the ACA in its entirety. The impact of not implementing the expansion of Medicaid leaves many Americans uninsured as well as a tremendous burden on our economy. Communities have and will continue to struggle to address the health of its citizens without this expansion. Politics has played a major role in disqualifying the policy...
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...Safe Staffing Examine Nurse-to-Patient Ratios Primary health care organizations such as New York Presbyterian (NYP) are impacted by low nurse-to-patient ratios. The recent implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has required organizations such as NYP to explore many approaches to improve quality and patient outcomes that contain costs. “Numerous studies reveal an association between higher levels of experienced RN staffing and lower rates of adverse patient outcomes” (www.nursingworld.org, 2015, para. 1). For this reason, nurse-to-patient ratios is an issue that needs to be addressed at NYP in order to improve quality healthcare within their organization. The acuity of the unit in which patient care is being provided, should determine the acceptable nurse-to-patient ratio. According to the American Nurses Association (ANA), factors that influence the nurse staffing needs include: patient complexity, acuity, or stability; number of admissions, discharges, and transfers; professional nursing and other staff skill level and expertise; physical space and layout of the nursing unit; availability of or proximity to technological support or other resources ("Optimal Nurse Staffing," 2015). Currently, New York is one of only fourteen states that addresses the nurse staffing issue in hospitals. New York State requires organizations such as NYP to disclose their nurse-to-patient staffing ratios to the public; however the state does not require a minimum...
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...downloaded from 163.238.9.21 on Sat, 5 Apr 2014 08:14:55 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsBetty Ford as First Lady: A Woman for Women LEESA E. TOBIN Archivist Gerald R. Ford Library On April 4, 1954, the women's page of The Washington Post carried a fea ture story on Mrs. Gerald R. Ford, a young congressman's wife with a penchant for "quiet" suits and "slightly more talkative" hats. "Mrs. Ford," the writer confided, "believes that wives of congressmen look better on a speaking platform when they're saying nothing. She leaves politics to her husband."1 Twenty-one years later, on October 25, 1975, Mrs. Ford stepped to the podium at the International Woman's Year Congress in Cleveland. In a major address on the role of women in society, Mrs. Ford spoke in support...
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...UNIT 3C: REPRESENTATIVE PROCESS IN THE USA SECTION 1: ELECTIONS & VOTING Primaries: * Election to select a parties candidacy for president * Open primary: A primary for any registered voter, democrat or republican. E.G. Texas * Closed: A primary for democrats and a primary for Republicans. (Separate one’s) * Invisible primary: candidates try to gain support and finance in the year before the primary * Proportional primary: awarded delegates in proportion to votes they get * Winner-takes-all: Win the most votes and you take all the states delegates Advantages: * Increased level of participation from ordinary votes (30% in 2008) * Increased interest from people * Increased choice of candidates (14 in 2008) * Removing power from party bosses Disadvantages: * Turnout is usually low * Voters are usually unrepresentative of normal voters (tend to be wealthier, old and better educated) * Process is far too long and expensive (Obama in 2008 announced his running 332 before the first primary * Fails to test presidential qualities Increased importance of primaries: * Really the only route to become a parties President Caucuses: * A meeting for the selection of a candidate * Usually held in states that are geographically large but thinly populated (Iowa, North Dakota, Nevada) * Turnout is usually pretty low, and usual favour ideological candidates National party conventions: Formal functions: ...
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...UVA-BC-0177 THE THIRD BATTLE OF BULL RUN: THE DISNEY’S AMERICA THEME PARK (A) When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires will come to you. If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme. . . . —Jiminy Cricket On September 22, 1994, Michael Eisner, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, one of the most powerful and well-known media conglomerates in the world, stared out the window of his Burbank office, contemplating the current situation surrounding the Disney’s America theme park. Ever since November 8, 1993, when the Wall Street Journal first broke the news that Disney was planning to build a theme park near Washington, DC, ongoing national debate over the location and concept of the $650 million park caused tremendous frustration. Eisner thought back over the events of the past year. How could his great idea have run into such formidable resistance? The Controversy Comes to a Head Eisner’s secretary clipped several newspaper articles covering two parades that took place on September 17 in Washington, DC. Several hundred Disney opponents from over 50 anti-Disney organizations marched past the White House and rallied on the National Mall in protest of the park. On the same day in the streets of Haymarket, Virginia near the proposed park site, Mickey Mouse and 101 local children dressed as Dalmatians appeared in a parade that was filled with pro-Disney sentiment. Eisner was particularly struck by the contrast between the two pictures:...
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...UVA-BC-0177 THE THIRD BATTLE OF BULL RUN: THE DISNEY’S AMERICA THEME PARK (A) When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires will come to you. If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme. . . . —Jiminy Cricket On September 22, 1994, Michael Eisner, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, one of the most powerful and well-known media conglomerates in the world, stared out the window of his Burbank office, contemplating the current situation surrounding the Disney’s America theme park. Ever since November 8, 1993, when the Wall Street Journal first broke the news that Disney was planning to build a theme park near Washington, DC, ongoing national debate over the location and concept of the $650 million park caused tremendous frustration. Eisner thought back over the events of the past year. How could his great idea have run into such formidable resistance? The Controversy Comes to a Head Eisner’s secretary clipped several newspaper articles covering two parades that took place on September 17 in Washington, DC. Several hundred Disney opponents from over 50 anti-Disney organizations marched past the White House and rallied on the National Mall in protest of the park. On the same day in the streets of Haymarket, Virginia near the proposed park site, Mickey Mouse and 101 local children dressed as Dalmatians appeared in a parade that was filled with pro-Disney sentiment. Eisner was particularly struck by the contrast between the two...
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...C H A P T E R The External Environment 4 The Environmental Domain Task Environment • General Environment • International Context Environmental Uncertainty Simple-Complex Dimension • Stable-Unstable Dimension • Framework Adapting to Environmental Uncertainty Positions and Departments • Buffering and Boundary Spanning • Differentiation and Integration • Organic Versus Mechanistic Management Processes • Planning and Forecasting Resource Dependence Controlling Environmental Resources Establishing Interorganizational Linkages • Controlling the Environmental Domain • Organization-Environment Integrative Framework Chapter Four The External Environment 53 M any companies are surprised by changes in the external environment. Perhaps the greatest tumult for today’s organizations has been created by the rapid expansion of e-commerce. For example, Amazon.com was ringing up on-line book sales for more than a year before managers at Barnes & Noble even began thinking about a Web site. Barnes & Noble was highly successful with its book superstore concept, but its early efforts in e-commerce were marked by costly mistakes and missed opportunities. Even though the company burned through $100 million in an effort to “crush Amazon,” Barnesandnoble.com was still selling only 15 percent of books bought online compared to Amazon’s 75 percent.1 Firms in every industry, from auto manufacturing to telecommlunications, face similar uncertainty. Many factors in the external environment...
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...[pic] Title: Total and State Medicaid Spending Growth FY 2000 - FY 2012 Description: With the expiration of federal stimulus funding in 2011, state spending on Medicaid is projected to rise 28.7% in 2012, while overall Medicaid spending will increase 2.2%. Source: Historic Medicaid Growth Rates, KCMU Analysis of CMS Form 64 Data; FY 2008, 2009 and 2010, KCMU survey of Medicaid officials in 50 states and DC conducted by Health Management Associates, 2011. Topics: Medicaid / CHIP Included in these Slideshows: KFF.org Data Spotlight Slide Date: October 28, 2011 Introduce the issue. Describe the problems in the U.S. healthcare system and how we might use another nation's healthcare system for reform. Evaluate how a new system would improve access to care, quality of care, and the efficient utilization of resources. Define the problem. a. High insurance premiums and out of reach for many American who remain uninsured. b. Drug companies are widely perceived as greedy and insensitive. c. Differences in prescription patterns related to insurance coverage. d. Medicaid patients are more likely to be prescribed generic drugs than patients who have commercial health insurance. e. Unethical behavior by the insurers that shows many institutions have violate fundamental values. f. Negative relationship between the insurers and physicians, personal-satisfaction ratings for health insurance plans, public concern about HMOs in particular and the health care...
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...SACHS.DOCX (DO NOT DELETE) 8/1/2011 2:07 PM RESCUING THE STRONG PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE FROM ITS CRITICS Noah M. Sachs* The Strong Precautionary Principle, an approach to risk regulation that shifts the burden of proof on safety, can provide a valuable framework for preventing harm to human health and the environment. Cass Sunstein and other scholars, however, have consistently criticized the Principle, rejecting it as paralyzing, inflexible, and extreme. In this reassessment of the Strong Precautionary Principle, I highlight the significant benefits of the Principle for risk decision making, with the aim of rescuing the Principle from its dismissive critics. The Principle sends a clear message that firms must research the health and environmental risks of their products, before harm occurs. It does not call for the elimination of all risk, nor does it ignore tradeoffs, as Sunstein has alleged. Rather, through burden shifting, the Principle legitimately requires risk creators to research and justify the risks they impose on society. By exploring where the Principle already operates successfully in U.S. law—examples often overlooked by the critics—I highlight the Principle’s flexibility and utility in regulatory law. This Article uses chemical regulation as a case study in how the Principle can guide Congress in an ongoing controversy. Congress is considering a major overhaul of the flawed Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA), and this change could be one of the most significant...
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...The Skeleton in W.’s Closet 21. Shock and . . . Oil? 22. Deflection for Reelection 23. Domestic Disturbance 24. Conclusion Afterword Author’s Note Acknowledgments Notes Foreword When a governor or any state official seeks elective national office, his (or her) reputation and what the country knows about the candidate’s background is initially determined by the work of local and regional media. Generally, those journalists do a competent job of reporting on the prospect’s record. In the case of Governor George W. Bush, Texas reporters had written numerous stories about his failed businesses in the oil patch, the dubious land grab and questionable funding behind a new stadium for Bush’s baseball team, the Texas Rangers, and his various political contradictions and hypocrisies while serving in Austin. I was one of those Texas journalists. I spent about a decade trying to find accurate information on Bush’s record in the Texas National Guard. My curiosity had been prompted by his failure to adequately answer a question I had asked him as a panelist in a televised debate with Ann Richards during the 1994 gubernatorial campaign. Eventually I published three books on Bush and his political consigliere, Karl Rove. During Bush’s presidency, many other...
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